Recipe: Simple Authentic Cajun Shrimp Creole

Assortment of famous Louisiana dishes like gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish bisque and more Image via Wikipedia

From Denny: Cajun cooking has evolved over 244 years since the first Acadian settlers arrived in Louisiana. They were originally deported by the English from Nova Scotia and it was ten years later they migrated to Louisiana. For generations the French and English have carried on a cultural clash and divide so this deportation came as no surprise even in the New World. It did bring terrible hardships to the Acadians as they strove to develop a new life in an inhospitable environment.

The lines between Cajun and Creole cuisine have blurred over the past few decades ever since Justin Wilson popularized Louisiana cuisine back in the 1970's with what was locally known as "good hunting and fishing camp food." Wilson also was a fan of hot sauces and so the idea of Cajun food as "hot and spicy" stuck in the national mind ever since. The reality is that Cajun did not originate as one with fiery pepper sauces, cayenne pepper and spices but rather, to this day with the oldest generation, was a savory and flavorful cuisine style.

The authors of this regional cookbook offer up insight into the subtle differences from region to region in Louisiana because Louisiana is a lot like France in that respect. The 22 counties considered as Cajun Country (which includes some of the state of Texas), known as parishes here, are divided into cultural regions: Acadian Coast, The Wetlands, Upper Prairie, Lower Prairie, the Bayou Region, Southwest Louisiana and the Marshes and Coast.

French Onion Soup Image via Wikipedia

This regional, simple, 100 recipe cookbook (lots of illustrations but without photos) offers recipes from each region, so you get a look at six different versions of the celebrated and widely known gumbo dish. They include side dishes, traditional French soups like Belle Rose French Onion Soup and then on to desserts too, one known as Dark Sugar Pralines.

The cookbook has lots of great Cajun resources like listings for food festival events, Cajun web sites for food and events and tourism.

What this cookbook is all about is easy comfort food made by real people for home style cooking. It's also an easy pleasurable way to learn about a different culture through food!

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Photo by afagen @ flickr

Lily B's Shrimp Creole

From: “Cooking in Cajun Country” new cookbook by Karl Breaux with Cheré Dastugue Coen (Gibbs Smith, $16.99, paperback)

My Amazon store has the book for $12.74 and available for free shipping too! Check it out, go here.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons butter

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1 small green bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 tsp. dried basil

2 cups chopped tomatoes or 1 can diced tomatoes, with juice

1 lb. fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined or 2 cups frozen shrimp*

(* Health Warning: try to buy Louisiana or American shrimp as Chinese and other Asian shrimp lives in heavily polluted waters, polluted with heavy metals! Check your package for country of origin before purchase.)

1/2 to 1 cup water

Cajun/Creole seasoning, to taste

2 cups cooked Louisiana rice

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium to medium-high heat. Sauté the onions, celery and bell pepper until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and sauté 5 minutes more.

2. Add salt, pepper, basil and tomatoes and stir; add shrimp. If using frozen shrimp, add 1/2 cup water and simmer for 10 minutes. If using fresh shrimp, add shrimp and 1 cup water and simmer until shrimp turn bright pink, about 15 to 20 minutes. Do not overcook.

3. Add Cajun/Creole seasoning to taste.

4. Serve over 1/2 cup cooked rice per serving.


Have a great weekend, everyone, and thanks for visiting! Good eating!


Cajun, Creole, Louisiana, shrimp creole, Society and Culture, Soups and Stews, Justin Wilson, Acadian, Cajun cuisine, Nova Scotia, Cook, Home

Recipe: Slow Cooker Shrimp Creole

Image by billmichalski via Flickr

From Denny: You are in a rush but want to eat something simply divine and are craving seafood. This recipe is the answer to your food prayers! Cook everything but the shrimp the night before or if you work part time cook it right before you get home. If you are out for the afternoon running errands and playing school taxi for the kids then this recipe is tailored for you. Cook the shrimp the last hour before dinner when you are home to tend it.

Normally, when cooking on the stove top you add the shrimp at the last minute before serving as it cooks up in 30 seconds to 2 minutes. With the slow cooker it is a much slower process. Cooking the sauce is the secret to any meal and the slow cooker specializes in that perfect slow blending of flavors we love so well in Louisiana!

Dedicating this awesome and easy recipe to the shrimp fishermen down Lafayette way who bring us these tasty crustaceans. The annual Shrimp Festival is going on right now and this weekend in Delcambre, Louisiana - make sure you pay them a visit!

From: Julie Kay @ 2theadvocate.com

Serves: 6 to 8

Ingredients:

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup flour

1 onion, chopped

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon Creole seasoning

1 (10-ounce) can Ro-tel brand tomatoes, mild

1 cup water

1/4 cup green onions, chopped

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 1/2 pounds raw, peeled shrimp

Hot cooked rice


Directions:

1. Put flour and oil in microwave dish and microwave on HIGH for 4 minutes until light brown in color. Add in onions, bell pepper, garlic and Creole seasoning and microwave on HIGH for 2 additional minutes.

2. Transfer to slow cooker and add in Ro-tel tomatoes, water, green onions and parsley. Cook on LOW for 5 hours.

3. Add in shrimp and turn cooker to HIGH. Cook another hour, until shrimp are pink.

4. Spoon shrimp over hot cooked rice to serve. Enjoy!



Slow cooker, shrimp creole, Shrimp Festival, Baton Rouge Louisiana, Cajun, Creole